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Review – Hero Ash – Evil Dead 2, NECA

NECA Toys has recently been putting out a line of figures to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the cult hit movie Evil Dead 2. So far we’ve seen a few variants of the movie’s protagonist, Ash Williams, in various states he found himself in in the movie. With the second series out, NECA has now given us the best and most iconic version of Ash: with his chainsaw hand, or “Hero Ash” as he’s called on the packaging. This is how everyone remembers the character, even though he technically only appeared like this through the climax of Evil Dead 2, and the beginning of Army of Darkness.

McFarlane Toys attempted their own version of Ash from Army of Darkness back in the early 2000’s, but it was rather abysmal. There was really nothing redeeming about that figure at all, so for many fans this is the figure they’ve been waiting for for a very long time. Does it meet expectations and give fans the Ash figure they’ve always wanted? Does it beat McFarlane Toys’ attempt at the character (spoiler alert: yes it does)? Keep reading to find out.

PACKAGING– Hero Ash comes in the standard NECA clamshell packaging. It does a great job of protecting the figure inside, and showing you exactly what you’re getting. We have the Evil Dead 2 logo at the top, and the iconic Evil Dead 2 skull (from the movie poster) at the bottom. The back of the package, as well as the sides, feature creepy photos of the figure, and give a description of what this new figure line is trying to accomplish (commemorate the 25th anniversary of the movie). The figure is front and center, with all of his accessories on display. All very cool moves by NECA.

SCULPT – The bulk of this sculpt is the exact same as on the previous two Ash figures NECA put out in this toy line, including the head. The main difference is his bare left arm, and his tattered shirt, complete with the straps that help keep his gun holster on his back. The sculpt is just fantastic.

The clothes have realistic folds and tears, and his body underneath the shirt looks great. It even has sculpted in chest hair, which is always a plus when trying to make a figure look realistic. I’d also like to note that his shirt is a separate sculpt from the body. The shirt is a very soft, pliable, rubbery plastic glued on top of the torso. This was clearly done so they could make the various Ash variants and have them with different shirts, but the same body underneath.

His head sculpt has a very good likeness to Bruce Campbell, circa 1987, and features the confused and terrified expression he sported for most of the film. I feel it’s a great expression to represent the character through most of the movie, however I do wish this figure had a more confident expression. When Ash builds his chainsaw hand and suits up, and transfers from coward to hero, he is a lot more confident and not as terrified. His “groovy” face would have been perfect here, however having him look scared works too.

The chainsaw is also, as far as I can tell, a perfect representation of the chainsaw used in the movie, and looks fantastic.

PAINT – As great as the sculpt was, the paint is even better. Ash looks like he’s been through hell and back, which is appropriate. His flesh tones look great, and vary throughout the skin, giving a realistic approach to it, since nobody ever really has a perfectly monochrome skin tone. His pants have various dry brushing to them to show just how dirty they are, as well as his boots. His shirt looks like it’s just caked in dried blood, dirt, mud, and even some fresh blood. There’s so many colors here giving a perfect translation from the movie. He was covered in so much crud it was hard to tell what was what and whose blood was where on his clothes. This is perfect.

The paint job on the head is near perfect. His hair looks great, and his face is covered in various cuts and scratches. There are even streaks of clear gloss paint, especially on his forehead, giving off the look that he’s sweating profusely. He even has just the faintest hint of stubble. The only complaint I have with the paint on the head is his eyes. His left eye, really. It seems to have been tampoed on a little off center, and his eyelash there is too thick. Likewise, his left eyebrow seems a little too far over to the left. The chainsaw, once again, looks great here. It has the right colors, and has realistic rusting and scuffing. If it wasn’t for the mistakes on the head, this would be a perfect paint job.

ARTICULATION – Hero Ash features a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, swivel-hinged elbows, ball jointed wrists, a floating ab joint, v-cut hips, thigh rotators, swivel-hinged knees, and ball jointed ankles. I was surprised at how poseable he really is. The ab joint works great, and features a good range of motion tilting back and forth, and well as allows for turning. I do wish he had double elbows and knees, but you can still get him into some good poses.

The one bit of articulation I REALLY don’t like are his hips. “V” hips? Really? In this day and age? I hate these type of hips so much. Give us ball jointed hips, or the h-hinge hips…anything but this. It really brings down the poseability. He’s forever going to be in a wide stance. With the thigh rotators, you can move his legs forward or backward and still get him to stand, but you’ll never get him to stand up straight, or spread his legs out any further than that.

ACCESSORIES – Hero Ash comes with two accessories (the chainsaw hand isn’t an accessory. It’s not removable): his infamous “boomstick” (a sawed-off shotgun), and the possessed deer head from the scene in the movie where everything in the cabin starts laughing hysterically. The boomstick looks great and very accurate to the movie. It fits in his hand nicely, and slips into the back holster just fine. It does take some doing to get his index finger in the trigger though, so be wary of that.

The deer head was a very nice surprise. It looks just like it jumped off the screen, with the proper expression and paint job. He looks as if he’s laughing and has those great exaggerated features that only a Sam Raimi monster could have. He also has an articulation point. His neck is ball jointed, so you can pose him looking wherever you want, which may be the coolest thing ever. There is no way to mount him on your wall though, unless you use some poster tack, or make a hole to hang him from.

FUN – It’s Ash! Evil Dead 2 man! How could that not be fun? Unless of course you’re not a fan of the Evil Dead movies, but I’m pretty sure those people are just urban legends to scare kids into behaving properly. In all seriousness though, Hero Ash is a very fun figure. Even if you didn’t know what the figure was supposed to be, you’d still see a guy covered in blood with a shotgun and a chainsaw for a hand. That, in and of itself, is enough to make this figure fun. Of course, speaking strictly as a toy, it’s not the most fun ever, but if you’re an Evil Dead fan then you’ll have a blast handling and posing Ash here.

QUALITY CONTROL – No QC issues wish Ash.

OVERALL – So this is definitely the Ash figure I’ve been waiting for. His poseability could be better in the hips, and he does have that paint issue with his eye, though I know not every figure suffers from that. It’s just at the time when I bought it, it was the only one on the pegs and I didn’t want to wait to search through more.

As far as screen accuracy goes, it’s just about perfect. Actually, to me, it looks completely perfect, though I’m sure if there are any inconsistencies they will be pointed out to me. If you’ve always wanted a great Ash figure, then get this guy. If you’re telling yourself you don’t need it, because you already have the McFarlane figure, then stop smoking whatever it is you’re smoking, get rid of the McFarlane figure, and get this guy.

Articulation junkies will likely be disappointed, but he’s got plenty of character and movie accurate accessories, and still features a good level of poseability for you to be able to make him take on any of your undead action figures. He’s not a perfect action figure, but this is easily the best Ash figure ever made.

FINAL SCORE: 3 / 5

Where to buy:

BigBadToyStore has him in stock as a set of two with Henrietta, as well as some others from this line.